New UiO-66/CuxS Heterostructures: Surface Functionalization Synthesis and Their Application in Photocatalytic Degradation of RhB

Abstract Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) and their heterostructures have been considered as suitable materials for photodegradation of organic pollutants in water treatment. In this work, a series of UiO-66/CuxS composites with different CuxS contents were prepared by using 3-mercaptopropionic acid as a surface-functionalizing agent to anchor CuxS nanoparticles onto UiO-66 surface. The as-synthesized UiO-66/CuxS composites were characterized by using XRD, SEM, TEM, XPS, UV-Vis, PL and the possible growth mechanism of the heterostructure composites was proposed. The UiO-66/CuxS composites were successfully used as photocatalysts for the degradation of Rhodamine B (RhB) under visible-light irradiation. Noticeably, the photocatalytic efficiency of UiO-66/CuxS composites could be tuned by changing Cu/Zr molar ratios. The enhanced photocatalytic activity could be attributed to the synergistic effect between CuxS nanoparticles and UiO-66 frameworks materials. This study provided useful information for the preparation of MOF/semiconductor heterostructure photocatalysts via the surface functionalization method.